The Cincinnati Bearcats picked up a commitment from Sierra College wide receiver Devin Gray on Monday night as a part of their 2016 recruiting class. As spots get tighter and tighter, UC only anticipated having six scholarships available before this verbal, Tommy Tuberville and his staff are only focusing on the highest caliber recruits. And it doesn’t get much better from the JUCO ranks than a Devin Gray.
He doesn’t boast a ton of other offers, just Georgia State and Middle Tennessee State, it seems. But his stats are off the charts, like with several of UC’s recruits during the Tuberville era. Gray caught 69 passes for a whopping 1,154 yards and 11 touchdowns this season for the Wolverines. That’ll catch the attention of any offensive minded coach such as Darren Hiller and Blake Rolan, who recruited him, especially with the chance that he enrolls early.
OVERVIEW
- Position: Wide Receiver
- Hometown: Sparks, NV
- JUCO: Sierra College
- Height, Weight: 6’2″, 185 lbs
- Offers: Georgia State, Middle Tennessee State
- Composite Rating: –
- 247 Sports Rating: –
- ESPN Rating: –
- Rivals Rating: –
- Scout Rating: –
ANALYSIS
It’s easy to see why UC went after Devin Gray and how he put up such monstrous numbers his sophomore season. He appears to fit the mold of former JUCO Johnny Holton to a tee, who’s having a sensational senior year for the Bearcats. Gray is a silky smooth receiver with flexible hips to cut in and out of breaks seamlessly to confound cornerbacks into turning their backs on him and, inevitably, getting burnt like the toast they are. But, as the infomercial folks who’ve ingrained themselves in your brain say, that’s not all.
The wide receiver isn’t simply a burner. That’s his top quality, sure, but he doesn’t a nice job in body positioning on jump balls. Not only does he use his body to shield the ball from the defender to give himself a better chance at pulling it in but he does it so at almost full speed. Oh, and his route running knowledge is well above average. He can do all of this on fades, sluggos, slants, ins, outs, you name it. And I think it’s that versatility that will allow Gray to play early for Cincinnati, which is exactly what you expect from a player from the JUCO ranks but don’t always get it.
OUTLOOK
He can probably step onto the field and play immediately for the Bearcats and that’s OK with me. Cincinnati loses six seniors to graduation at the position following this season but return steady contributors Nate Cole, Kahlil Lewis, and Tshumbi Johnson, who could switch back to wide receiver next year. They will also bring LSU transfer Avery Peterson and Virginia receiver Jamil Kamara into the fold, who will be expiring their designated sit out year. But that’s just five players in a corps that Eddie Gran and Blake Rolan would prefer use seven or eight receivers to rotate between.
As such, there’s how Gray sees the field as a true junior next season. It’s unclear what kind of impact he’ll make in 2016, at that point having spent less than a year in the program. But wide receiver is one of the easiest positions to transfer skills between levels (see: Lewis, Kahlil). Gray should be plugged into the rotation early and the sky’s really the limit with him.